


To Be Free snapshots

by TheCrazyFriend



Series: To Be Free [2]
Category: Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: BAMF Jewel, F/F, Snapshots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:07:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24144097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCrazyFriend/pseuds/TheCrazyFriend
Summary: A brief snapshot of events to come in To Be Free
Relationships: Ahsoka Tano/Original Character(s), Anakin Skywalker & Original Character(s)
Series: To Be Free [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1856494
Comments: 27
Kudos: 8





	1. 7BBY

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [To be free (to live and love)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23647555) by [TheCrazyFriend](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCrazyFriend/pseuds/TheCrazyFriend). 



> Just a brief snapshot of my To Be Free universe, told from the Empire's PoV.

Everyone in the service of the Empire had heard of them.

 _Fulcrum_.

The worst possible type of traitor to the Empire; Rebels. Jedi sympathizer.

So it naturally came as a shock when the Empire's _ISD Resurgence_ exited hyperspace and they saw an old-style Providence-Class Separatist Dreadnought hanging there in space, a symbol covering the entire top of the craft, a symbol that looked familiar to anyone in the service of the Empire, from those in the Inquisitorius to the most 'shiny' of ensigns.

Fulcrum’s symbol.

There were hastily shouted orders and not only did the ventral turbolasers all spool up, but every single TIE fighter was also launched in preparation for a battle to the death with the Providence-Class. The newer Imperial-class Star Destroyers vastly outclassed the older craft no matter how much more massive the older craft were but every Imperial knew that Fulcrum's Agents were in a class of their own when it came to sowing seeds of discord throughout the Empire, only outclassed by Fulcrum themselves though the rebel who called themselves Jewel was a close third. Jewel was somewhat an anomaly in the Rebellion, a merciless individual nobody survived contact with whose signature attack was rumored to be force lightning, a dark side ability that not even Lord Vader had shown an affinity for. The Emperor’s right-hand man preferred the more simple force choke. “Easy” murmured Admiral Yularen. As one of the most senior admirals of the Imperial navy, he was naturally cautious of an enemy of Fulcrum's status. He hadn’t faced down any of Fulcrum's agents before in his long and illustrious career with the Empire but for that particular ship to so blatantly be displaying the symbol he knew the craft was likely to be of supreme importance to the mystical figure of the Rebel Alliance. “We don’t want to overestimate them if there's any chance of them being under the protection of Fulcrum but we also can't let this opportunity pass us by, we might have a chance to capture or kill Fulcrum!!”  
The men beneath him murmured at that, they would all gain a massive promotion if they were to capture that particular sleemo. As it was, the Providence-Class showed no sign that they had even noticed the Imperial Star Destroyer though Yularen's finely honed tactical instincts found it almost impossible for them not to have noticed. “Unidentified Providence-Class. Please identify and state your business in this sector”

There was silence for a good few moments and Yularen's men slowly grew more restless. “This is the Refugee Ship _Genesis_. We are receiving your transmission, please transmit your identity codes”  
“Identity codes? What are they talking about?” one Stormtrooper muttered to another  
“Transmit identity codes, immediately”  
“This ship is not friendly!!” one of the other technicians declared at the same moment the transmission came through the comms, “they're jamming our long-range transmissions!!”  
“Prepare to engage!!” Yularen barked, annoyed that it had taken the incompetent officers so long to realize that they were being jammed but there was a sudden shift in the Force that even the non-sensitive Yularen could feel. “What the?” he mumbled having felt as if his entire body had been doused in liquid nitrogen a fraction of a second before one of the many docking ports flashed up an alarm then was silenced.  
“I think we've been boarded” one of the technicians called, “our sensors in sector three have gone crazy!! It's some kind of electrical interference!!”  
“This is _Jewel_. Hold your fire, _Genesis_ , I am engaging the Imps” a strange, artificial and genderless voice spoke calmly over the Star Destroyer's own comms. Clearly, Jewel was also a slicer

It took Yularen’s dark-side befuddled brain several moments too long to realize that the transmission came from within his own ship. He was simultaneously more frightened than he had ever been but at the same time relieved. Jewel, whoever they were, appeared to be working alone. Their voice was concealed by a vocorder but they were supremely confident and overconfidence had caused the downfall of many a Rebel Cell over the years. “Send all Stormtroopers to secure sector three, close the blast doors and order all fighters to engage that Providence-class!!” Yularen ordered, it had been hard at first to adapt to sole command without a Jedi by his side but he and all the other officers had managed. His orders were followed wordlessly, the Stormtroopers rushing to meet and overwhelm their enemy while the blast doors sealed the bridge off from the rest of the ship

There were already the screams of dying men over the comms but Yularen knew that his near ten thousand Stormtroopers, while vastly inferior to the clones he had once fought alongside, would still be more than enough of a match against whoever Jewel was. “This is Fulcrum. I am receiving your distress call, _Genesis_ and am on approach” another vocordered voice spoke  
Yularen smiled to himself, both Jewel and Fulcrum in one place? It was his lucky day  
“Fulcrum. Do not engage, destroy the turbolasers” Jewel spoke again, and much to his frustration it seemed as if they weren't even out of breath. He also found it supremely disgusting that Jewel was so confident  
“Confirmed. Good hunting, Jewel. Remember, the _Genesis_ cannot be exposed, all other concerns are secondary”  
“I understand. Jewel out” Yularen knew better than most what that meant. It meant that they would sacrifice themselves to protect the _Genesis_ , to ensure that it remained unmolested and Yularen could use that to his advantage

“What the?! Jedi!! We have a Jed... Urk!!” the man's cry was cut off halfway through and the sound of choking emanated throughout the comms. It made sense for Jewel to be a Jedi, and Yularen had served alongside them so he knew that they weren't just a myth but he was still confident that they would prevail... Until two red hot lines were carved through the blast doors that sealed off the bridge from the rest of the craft by a sight that Yularen had almost forgotten about, two meter long plasma blades cutting their way through the blast doors with no difficulty whatsoever. The only thing unusual about that occurrence was that both blades were pitch black instead of the usual bright fluorescent greens or blues  
“This is Jewel. I am at the bridge”  
“This is Fulcrum, turbolasers destroyed” a clearly heavily modified ARC-170 shot past the bridge, leaving a trail of destruction behind it. “Moving on to the shield generators.” No matter what, the TIE fighters and even the turbolasers couldn't seem to destroy the fighter which was taking blow after blow from the fighters while it weaved between turbolasers volleys. “R7, reset targeting computers” Fulcrum's voice ordered.

The blades completed their journey around the circle being created and the heavy cylinder of blast door was propelled into the bridge, crushing several men who were unfortunate enough to be in the way and a few seconds later a clearly feminine figure stepped into the bridge through the hole, reflecting all the blaster bolts perfectly back along their original trajectories with her black lightsabers and killing the shooters instantly. “This is Jewel. I am in”  
“Roger that. Jewel, deal with them and set the self-destruct”  
_What?!_ Yularen gasped, the Jedi was going to kill them all. He peeked through the hole in the door and regretted it, what he saw was pretty grim. Dead officers and Stormtroopers littered the corridor and it was clear that Jewel had not shown any mercy, there were even scorch marks all over the walls, the floor and the ceiling from an electrical attack. “You can't do that...” he began. “You’re a Jedi”  
“I'm no Jedi” the mysterious Jewel replied, unleashing an unexpectedly brutal attack and revealing the rumors to be true; Jewel used lightning, her eyes lighting up gold for a few brief seconds, glowing the way that could be used to identify someone as corrupted by the dark side. For the officers hit by the lighting, it was a quick and relatively painless death but it left Yularen alone on the bridge with some unidentified force user whose eyes were quickly reverting to their original ice-blue color. “Hey Fulcrum” Jewel began again in a calmer, much more gentle tone, “I believe you know the admiral. Say hi, admiral”  
“Go to hell” Yularen growled, this Jewel had killed every single one of his Stormtroopers and yet wanted to have a pleasant conversation?  
“Hey, Admiral, it's been some time” Fulcrum's artificial voice had been disabled and they were speaking with their own voice  
“ _Ahsoka_?!” the admiral was _stunned_. He knew Fulcrum was a powerful and resourceful individual, but he hadn't expected it to be Anakin Skywalker's ill-fated former Padawan Learner, the Padawan who had left the Jedi due to being framed by her then best friend. Suddenly, everything made sense, Fulcrum’s symbol, how the Rebels kept beating them at their own game, how the Rebels hadn't ever lost hope. “No wonder the Empire keeps only delaying the rise of a Rebellion. With you in charge, it is inevitable”  
“You’re on the wrong side, Yularen” Ahsoka smiled sadly at the thought of the admiral she had once served alongside to secure the galaxy's freedom  
“Perhaps. Perhaps not”  
“You're on the losing side”  
“Almost certainly. Do what you have to do, Ahsoka. It was an honor serving with you in the olden days, and it's been an honor being beaten by you”  
“Jewel. Finish this” Ahsoka replied sadly

It only took but a moment of time for Jewel to program the Star Destroyer’s reactor to overload and much less time for her to shatter the controls to prevent the self-destruct being aborted. Five minutes later, the entire ship went up with a silent, brilliant white explosion, leaving nothing left but debris. Fulcrum and Jewel returned to their ship, the _Genesis_ , and landed in one of the remaining hanger bays that hadn’t been converted to serve some other purpose. Several youngsters ran over to the craft that had barely landed and threw their arms around the two women, Fulcrum and Jewel were _home_

*****

“What do you have...” FSSS PSSHHHH “to report, First Sister?” the machine was forced to breathe by his respirator halfway through his sentence, much to his annoyance  
“My Master, there's nothing left” a vocordered yet still feminine voice replied. “Absolutely nothing remains”  
“Nothing?” FSSS PSSHHHH. “Are you sure?”  
“Wait. Master, I think I see something. It's a small piece of flimsi that seems to have survived whatever cataclysmic event that happened here. It's” she squinted to try to make it out, promptly gave up and used the force to pull it closer, “it's a gemstone shape, part of a bigger design but I'm not sure what”  
“Jewel...” the machine hissed. FSSS PSSHHHH “I thought they were supposed to be” FSSS PSSHHHH “a bogeyman to scare the lower ranks”  
“Obviously, I was mistaken, My Master. Jewel is as real as Fulcrum. It also seems Jewel did this alone, the only hyperspace trail left is one of a single person fighter, a Jedi Interceptor”  
“We must kill Jewel, before our Master learns of our failure”  
“Yes, My Master. I shall see to it, personally” _I will avenge what happened to you_  
“I trust you, First Sister”


	2. 3ABY

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, okay. This is mostly a self-serving chapter, writing out a small (wishful thinking) story of mine in the TbF universe featuring:  
> Yoda  
> Badass Jewel  
> Annoyed Ahsoka  
> Inquisitor friendships  
> Aaaand a baffled, bewildered Luke

“So...” a pale-skinned human dropped into a seat behind a Mirialan woman and the masked figure of Jewel. Normally, people tended to get a little restless so close to the deadly threat that was the woman named Jewel but the human was relaxed, knowing that Jewel was not a threat to her. Sure, if Jewel had wanted to kill her the human knew she wouldn't have a hope in any of the hells of stopping her from doing so which also served to reassure the cold calculating woman a little more, for she'd almost certainly struggle but in the end, it would be hopeless, as if she were a candle and Jewel a thunderstorm, or perhaps the ocean. The power gap was certainly that extreme. Only one person that she knew of could match up to Jewel’s level of Force usage and it wasn't her. “Where are we going today, Madam Jewel? You had a vision?”  
“Yes. We're going to Dagobah” the woman, Jewel, murmured. She had left her lightsabers in her cabin on their heavily modified YT-1300 freighter. Strictly speaking, it was assigned to Jewel but since she didn't like traveling alone she often traveled with companions, more often than not the two women she was with.  
“A Jedi hiding there? Whoever it is has some real space smarts” the Mirialan admitted. “Hiding in a dark-side vergence like that”  
“Sure he does. You are going to enjoy this mission, Miki. You too Airma. It's Payback with a capital P, or maybe all caps?”  
“Does Fulcrum know of our mission?”  
“No” the helmet moved side to side as the mysterious being shook her head. Very few people knew Jewel's species and even fewer had seen her and survived to tell the tale  
“Ah, I see. Off the books mission then”  
“Yes” With that, the trio settled down into the long hyperspace journey, Dagobah was well out of the way and the three young women eventually grew bored, heading down to the spacious hold of the freighter to snag some lightsaber practice for their mission as it would likely be their toughest challenge yet, they, the two unmasked women especially enjoyed their friendly banter while Jewel smirked at a few comments. Both of the unmasked women had their suspicions as to who the third woman was but understood that secrecy for someone so high up was a necessity, they had their own masks for the same reason but they didn't tend to wear them unless they were out on assignment. What little they could see of her, of Jewel's face, solely her ice-blue eyes, gave credibility to the identity of the young woman. Former Sith assassin Asajj Ventress.

*****

“Found someone you have, yes.” The little green... Thing hobbled its way past Luke Skywalker. Not even any of Jewel’s extensive research into the Jedi had exposed what he was so that meant that Luke Skywalker definitely had no idea, he was confused, was that little being able to help him or not?!  
“Hold it right there!” A demanding tone. A feeling of darkness, of imminent _threat_. Unlike when Luke felt Vader over the Death Star, the darkness wasn't an all-encompassing _rage_ , it was colder than that, more calculating. As if he had been doused in liquid nitrogen. He was somewhat aware of _their_ presence at the edge of his senses, behind him. Three figures, two dark and one an absolute _void_ , just darkness personified and consequently unreadable to him and he wasn't about to ask the ancient decrepit winkled being for his input on the subject  
“Who are you?” he demanded, lifting his saber and facing down the three threats with only a little hint of fear  
“ _Little boy_ ” one of the three hissed from behind a mask, “trust me. You do not want to fight us, one of us alone would crush you, two of us would be a challenge for any given Jedi Master, of which you are not. The three of us together? We're enough of a challenge for the little _goblin_ down there” Hate surged from the feminine figure who spoke. She had a symbol on her shoulder, one he vaguely recalled seeing painted onboard that old VCX-100 that had been at Hoth. A weird shape of straight lines and angles with two gemstones floating near the top of the symbol, that symbol he remembered looked a little different but he knew it meant the same thing, his feelings told him so  
“I-I don't understand.” Luke stuttered with a small, confused frown but it seemed the little green alien did since he stepped forward with a smile  
“Hmm, young Trilla Suduli and Iomara... Offee, wasn't it? Joined me you have. Free from the dark side you are and continue your training as Jedi we must!” The little green thing spoke once again, speaking to the two women who had remained in their masks to hide their identities  
"No," a Mirialan woman replied once she had lifted her mask, her cover was blown anyway, "I no longer go by Iomara and she no longer goes by Trilla, those names died when we were betrayed by our Jedi Masters and subjected to the cruelty of the Empire's Inquisitorius program because of them, when we became Second Sister and Seventh Sister. With no due respect, we will not allow you to resurrect an order that values an archaic Code above its members, Master Jedi. An Order that kidnapped children and killed their parents and aunts and uncles"

The apparent Jedi Master took a few moments to take that information in then carried on the conversation that was already driving two of the women to a new height of rage. Luke was startled that the Jedi was under the impression that those two had cast off the shroud of the dark side for they didn't feel at all light to him. "The third woman with you, her identity I cannot sense. Name yourself, you must, child"  
"No, I don't think I will" the woman's vocordered voice replied. "You will refer to me as _Jewel_ " Luke's eyes widened, as a member of the Rebellion, he knew of Jewel, rumored to be a Fallen Jedi that someone high up had vouched for and rumored to like Force Lightning. "I sense that you know of me, young Skywalker. You don't want to follow this senile fool's Order, such an Order where love and happiness are forbidden will only betray you eventually. You should find Fulcrum who can teach you in the ways of the Light, far more effectively than he ever could"  
"Fulcrum...” It took him a few moments but he realized soon enough, the comment about him being senile was a first and it may have distracted him just a little. “Young Tano, alive she is?! Sense her I cannot..." The little green being's ears raised for the first time in fifteen years. Hope. It had broken his heart to feel Ahsoka Tano die because of the actions of the High Council, because of _him_.  
The two former Inquisitors ignited their amethyst lightsabers with a ferocious growl. "Her light is pure, we won't allow you to harm her!!" Trilla hissed with barely controlled rage  
_Harm her, I do not wish to. Never again_

Despite the elderly Jedi’s thoughts, both unmasked young woman leaped toward the Jedi Master who bounced out of the way just in time to evade their blows which resulted in a blade lock between the two former Inquisitors  
“You hurt them both,” the third woman, the one still wearing her mask spoke again. She was clearly a woman of few words and, thanks to whatever Force skill she was using to shield herself along with the vocordered voice was enough to conceal her identity, even from the nine-hundred cycle old Jedi. “You hurt them, first by throwing them into a war that kids their age had no place in, then mutilating one of their friends, abandoning that friend to die slowly and finally your Order chose its Code over its members. Have you ever wondered why Iomara's relative did what she did? These two, and a lot more besides, looked up to her and Tano, one was a gifted healer and the other was skilled enough to become the Chosen One’s Padawan years before she should have. Your Code forced them down the paths their lives took, Tano was truly gifted and you took her for granted. Your Code prevented Barriss Offee from speaking out against the ironic violations of the very same code that your High Council committed every single day, the 'no emotions’ rule that led to almost all the fallen Jedi in the era since the code was changed to ban families. Jedi weren't allowed to process their emotions healthily so ended up breaking and falling, like Offee or being betrayed and thrown to the akul, like Tano. You brought about your own destruction and we are here to _finish the job_ ”  
“Fallen, you have. No choice do you leave me” the sorrowful master’s voice spoke as a bright jade green blade emerged from the tiny Jedi’s hand  
“For Barriss?” Trilla asked  
“For Barriss” Iomara nodded and leaped into the fray alongside her friend, her eyes fixed upon one of the Jedi she had dreamed of killing for so long.

Iomara and Trilla attacked from either side while Jewel charged up the middle, quickly being foiled by the ancient Jedi’s still present agility that resulted in Trilla having to leap over Iomara so she didn't smash into her since the wrinkled old being had leaped out of the way. “Kark” Iomara grumbled, she had hoped to be the one to deliver the killing blow, for her fallen relatives that had died either at the hands of the Jedi, or indirectly through their actions.  
Yoda bounced off a tree and brought his lightsaber down on Iomara’s head only for the attack to be blocked by Trilla's purple blade. “Purple blade, means neutrality it does” he spoke. “Neutral you are not, Sith you are”  
“We are no Sith” Iomara swung her blade low and caused Yoda to blade lock and scowled when the elderly Master jumped away yet again only to land in the path of Jewel’s black blade which he blocked at the last possible moment. _Narrow-minded senile old fool_  
“My name is Miki. We are dark”  
“My name is Airma. We are light”  
“My name is Jewel. We are _balance_ ”

A sudden burst of Force Lightning shot out of Jewel’s hand and slammed into Yoda’s hand while he fended off multiple stabs from Iomara and sent Trilla flying with the Force. Yoda absorbed the malevolent energy without devoting any particular attention to it  
“Upping the ante?” Iomara asked, igniting the second blade of her double lightsaber while Trilla groaned and stood slowly, dazed from where her head had hit the tree. “Might be better to go _all out_ ”  
“I am growing tired of this” Jewel grumbled in admittance and suddenly the entire area felt at least as foreboding as the dark side cave that was only a few hours walk from where they were and the two former Inquisitors shivered just the same as Luke and even Yoda did. The masked woman had immense power and was intending to use it against her adversary. She didn't usually need to call on her Force power but Yoda fought as if he was still a young adult. She could feel him tiring but in all likelihood both her companions would be dead before Yoda.  
“Let's do this...” Trilla stood up once again and gathered herself for one last attack. With a nod at Trilla, both leaped at the Jedi once again with a ferocious roar only to be defeated midair by their opponent's control over the Force, control that was clearly third only to Jewel and Fulcrum. Both young women flew back and slammed into two different trees, dazing them both and taking them out of the fight. Jewel leaped up toward Yoda, a finality to her attack, her black blade whirring through the air leaving a somewhat soothing scent of ozone

"Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your... Urk." Master Yoda's words were cut off by a humming black lightsaber through the supposedly wise yet senile old fool's throat. He had blocked the first lightsaber’s myriad of strikes that had come from almost every perceivable direction but since he couldn't sense Jewel and found his precognition blinded by the darkness rolling off of the darksider, he didn't see the trap until it was too late and the second, shorter blade penetrated the creature's throat from where it burst into existence from the hilt held in the reverse Shien grip  
"Thank you for distracting him, girls" the faceplate over Jewel's face opened to reveal who was concealed behind it as Yoda fell to the floor, mortally wounded.  
The defeated warrior's eyes widened in shock. _What the?!_  
“Miki, Airma, you did a huge service to the future of the light side here today.” Jewel spoke proudly, they had earned the right to see her face and she couldn't help but feel her soaring emotions at being able to afford them the honor. “We've just ensured that the old Jedi Order cannot return in its old form.” She turned to Yoda once again and cooked his body with Force Lightning that felt even more malevolent than the last lot Jewel had shot out against the ancient Jedi and Luke, though a good distance from the attack, recoiled from the pure evil emanating from the red-colored lightning whereas the two others managed to suppress their urge to recoil  
"You're welcome, Jewel" one of the woman, Miki Kuluma, formerly Seventh Sister, formerly Iomara Offee spoke playfully, joyfully. "For Barriss" she added solemnly, stepping up closer to their defeated foe with a glare at the downed and defeated Jedi. “We should just leave him to decay” she hissed, unleashing her own blast of lightning at him, the purple bolts forcing the dying creature to jerk about aimlessly  
“You see,” the woman named Jewel kneeled down next to the smoking green creature, ignoring Miki’s callous comment. “For us, the dark side is merely a degree of immersion. I'm a Darksider, I freely admit that and I’m one with a rare gift I might add, but we do not allow the dark side’s more... feral influences to impact us. We all use both light and dark, which is where both the Jedi and Sith went wrong. They focus on either the light or the dark” Jewel was determined to turn the creature's last few moments into a lesson on the true nature of the Force as she saw it. Both her companions were True Neutral Force users while Ahsoka was a Pure Lightsider and Jewel was near enough a Pure Darksider. Other members of their group were more inclined to the light or the dark and chose between Ahsoka or Jewel as their teacher accordingly  
"Fek. We actually did it" the other woman, Airma Kilvaari, formerly Second Sister, formerly Trilla Suduli muttered. "He's gone" the old Jedi Master had disappeared into nothingness before she could unleash her own lightning  
"And with him ends the old Jedi Order, those that betrayed us and forced us down the path that turned us into the evil that we sought to destroy are no more"

Luke Skywalker who was still hiding as he had been forced back by Yoda at the start of their fight did not recognize the voice of the woman whose cold, ice-blue eyes showed undeniable warmth toward her two companions. He then realized he was seeing Jewel’s face, a rare honor. Once Yoda was gone, the oppressive air of pure malevolence faded into almost nothing, a feeling of intense contentedness had replaced it and all three of the women's eyes slowly faded back into their natural colors, ice-blue for Jewel, a greeny-blue for Airma and a brilliant, beautiful blue for Miki.  
"Go, young Skywalker, find Ahsoka Tano, you must. Teach you she can" The former Seventh Sister called out to the young male, mocking the ancient Jedi Master they had finally found and dealt with. He was, after all, too dangerous to be left alive as he would ensure whatever new Jedi Order that would come into existence at the fall of the Empire would fall into the same traps the old one had, suppression of emotions, no compassion, no ties to other sentients and hypocritical views on warfare and violence. Hells, even Ahsoka Tano, the most powerful light side user for generations, possibly in history and a former Jedi, agreed that the Jedi Order had to die, at least as it stood at the end of the Clone Wars  
“You are Jewel? Not quite what I expected” Luke admitted quietly, half expecting to be cut down by black or purple lightsabers for speaking out of turn. He had seen the viciousness of Jewel’s final attack on what would have been his teacher and how her eyes had blazed golden while doing so  
“See ya 'round, kid” she replied calmly, shocking the blonde male

*****

The celebration aboard their freighter lasted until they had arrived back at the _Genesis_ where they were met by a tall orange-skinned Togruta whose arms were crossed and was tapping her foot with a mildly irritated expression on her face. “Jewel. Airma, Miki” she spoke in a disinterested tone that hid just how irritated she was, Jewel’s faceplate was back covering her face. “You know how important it is that we keep a low profile, only a few people in the Rebellion know we’re still... Around, especially me. Vader thinks I'm dead remember so only General Organa” she knew the woman's true identity having sensed it in the Force, “Admiral Ackbar and Mon Mothma know I'm still alive”  
“I'm sorry Fulcrum”  
A roll of beautiful blue eyes. “Was your mission a success at least?”  
“Yea” Jewel confirmed with a cruel smile. She _had_ enjoyed that  
“Yoda is dead?”  
“H-how did you know?” Miki mumbled  
“The Force told me, of course. Also told me that I'll soon be getting a new apprentice. Also I sense that you two have been brought into the inner circle. You both know who Jewel is”  
Miki and Airma were, as always, awed by their light side master’s control and understanding of the Force but both nodded. “We are honored”

*****

Sometime after Luke had returned to the fleet after the death of Yoda, a somewhat familiar hooded, masked woman came to Luke. “Skywalker. Do not speak, and come with me. I am to take you to our Lightsider friend” she handed the young Jedi a pair of heavy bracelets that he put on without being prompted, finding himself cut off from the Force and he was handed a helmet that obstructed his vision which he donned without complaint.

The woman led him to her ship, he strongly suspected it was the same ship they had left Dagobah on. “Airma” Luke spoke, aware the woman had jumped into hyperspace. “Or is it Trilla?”  
“I apologize for the force blockers. Vader had a vendetta against our friend which is why you've probably been ordered never to talk to anyone about her by leadership.” The woman replied, easing the ship out of hyperspace in what must've been one of the shortest hyperspace hops in history. “For that reason it's best you don't know where we’re headed or where we will land. And it's Airma. This will be your home for the foreseeable future” she added, bringing down the shuttle on a hard surface. “This is the shuttle _Illuminant_ to hanger control, please shut the hanger doors”  
There was no reply over the comms, just massive rumbling and a jerk of pseudomotion, startling the young Jedi enough for him to cry out. “Agh!”  
“Welcome to the _Genesis_. Your new Master, Ahsoka Tano, is waiting for you out in the hanger” the Force damping bracelets fell from Luke’s wrists and immediately his senses were overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of the light pouring off of the single figure stood in the hanger. He had never felt anything quite like the light that existed around the Togruta stood at the bottom of the boarding ramp. “Good afternoon, milady” Airma nodded at the Lightsider respectfully as she descended down the boarding ramp  
“Airma” the Togruta nodded back respectfully. “Hello, Luke. My name is Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker's old Padawan and Embodiment of the Light. It's so wonderful to finally meet you” the orange-skinned Togruta stepped forward and smiled at him, hugging him. “I also go by the codename Fulcrum. You are aboard my flagship, the refugee ship _Genesis_. I'll take you to your suite...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh. Bye bye, Yoda.
> 
> Little frickin' war criminal.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed:)


	3. 18BBY

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set in Trilla Suduri's perspective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible light spoilers for Fallen Order

“Trilla Suduri” a voice boomed  
_Oh kark..._ The already pale-skinned human female paled even further at the sound of _that_ voice. She had thought that she would be safe in the bowels of Coruscant with her Master looking out for her and the Younglings she had ended up being forced to take care of when her Master ran off to distract the Imperials over a galactic standard week beforehand and she hadn't seen her Master since. She heard the voice, the voice of a boogeyman, the voice of the mechanical nightmare, the voice of Darth Vader. She had thought her master had been killed in a struggle, a struggle that she hadn't actually heard anything of, not a peep. Nobody else knew that they were hidden there since Cere Junda was a Jedi Master, it was unlikely that any of the newly christened Stormtroopers, formed from the old Clone Troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic, would be able to trace her back to their hiding place so that meant only one thing could have happened; Cere Junda had snapped and betrayed them

“Trilla Suduri, we know you are there. You failed, your Master failed, she is as good as dead. Come out and surrender” Vader demanded  
_Never_  
“I guess I will just have to come to you”  
“No...” escaped the woman's quivering lips. _I can't let you hurt the Younglings_. Trilla stood up, forcing down her fear. She knew what she had to do and subsequently placed her hand on the shoulders of two of the Younglings.  
“Trilla, what are we going to do?” The Rodian Youngling asked, his eyes filled with _trust_  
“We will not be doing anything together. You will be escaping down the sewers, while I attempt to distract them. I'm sorry but you can't look back, _ever_.”

“You have ten seconds to show yourself!” Vader boomed  
Seven seconds later, Trilla Suduri stepped out of the abandoned building and into full view of Darth Vader and his veritable army of black-clad Purge Troopers. “I'm here” she called, her hands in the air to show she was unarmed  
“Open fire” Vader barked. Trilla couldn't do anything other than watch in horror as the building was consumed in blaster fire and the orange-white sheet of fire from the flamethrowers that Vader knew lightsabers wouldn't be able to block  
_No..._ Trilla hung her head and she was led away from the building in disgrace. She had _failed_ , just like her Master. She was a _failure_.

*****

When Trilla arrived at Fortress Inquisitorius on Nur, weeks after she had been picked up by Darth Vader, she was inevitably overwhelmed by the pain of the place. She was under heavy guard and found herself in a facility where there were no smooth edges or color at all, it was all bland gray and angles reminiscent of the old Galactic Republic navy vessels. The place itself already echoed with screams that had long dissipated, even though she was told that there were only two other permanent residents at that time, one of whom was away on a project for the new Empire, Project Harvester. The sole remaining resident, a resident who had been watching the new arrival with sadistic glee was introduced by Darth Vader as First Sister. First Sister wore a bulky yet light-appearing full-body suit of armor made of phrik that hid any and all identifying features, save a feminine figure and the malicious, cruel, glowing sulfuric eyes indicative of the First Sister’s heavy drawing on the Dark Side, already. It had only been a cycle since the Jedi Order fell and yet the Sith in command of the Galactic Government had already twisted, abused and corrupted at least one young woman into an agent of the dark side. Two lightsabers hung at the hips of the armor, they were both short shoto-style lightsabers that had a rather obvious curve to them, they looked very much like the ones Barriss Offee had stolen from Ventress.

“First Sister will be your handler” Vader spoke calmly, he had wrestled the Dark Side under control and with that, he left taking the vast majority of the Purge Troopers with him. He had, after all, taught First Sister himself and that meant she was more than ready to be responsible for a single Padawan that hadn’t even completed her training  
“Hello, what's your name?” Trilla inquired politely, her Jedi diplomacy taking over  
“First Sister” the armored woman replied blandly  
“Yes but what's your real name”  
“First Sister”  
“That wasn't the name you were born with, was it?”  
“My name is First Sister”  
“Ugh. Fine, _First Sister_!” Trilla grudgingly agreed. She suddenly found herself on her knees, she hadn't seen the Inquisitor move but she had savagely slammed the hilt of her lightsaber into Trilla's back, knocking her off balance and causing her to fall to her knees  
“Silence, Inquisitorius _Hopeful_ ” First Sister snarled, igniting her lightsaber, its deadly rage-fueled crimson blade humming into existence. “I will be referred to only as First Sister, with the due amount of respect, anything less than that and you’re only asking for trouble!”

To demonstrate exactly what trouble meant and silencing the former Padawan before she could start to fight back, First Sister used the force to lift her back on to her feet and held the blade of her crimson, evil, bleeding lightsaber up to the hand of the helpless Padawan before her, the heavy, oppressive dark side of the force that the darksider wielded without hesitation pinning the human’s hand in the air. Trilla attempted to pull her hand back but the dark side crushed her hand the more she attempted to pull it away. “No... _Please_ ” she whispered desperately

A sudden whump and Trilla found herself on the floor, her vision fading to black even as she fell to the ground, landing sprawled at an awkward angle  
Trilla stood over the unconscious Padawan with a frown hidden behind her mask. “What a shame. Take her to interrogation”

*****

Trilla woke up suddenly. It wasn't her usual slow ascent to consciousness, it was a jarring, sudden, agonizing shock to all her senses that returned her to consciousness. Her eyes flared open and her mouth involuntarily opened in a scream that pierced the walls of the interrogation cell, the Empire had not wasted any credits on soundproofing any of the rooms save the living quarters of the First Sister and the Grand Inquisitor. “You're awake” the vocordered voice of the First Sister spoke, concealing any useful information about species, planets that she’d lived on, even age that Trilla could have used to reason with the fallen, sadistic woman.  
“...” Trilla didn't respond to the woman's comment, choosing to fight her battles cautiously. She couldn't afford to expend her resolve and energy in a fight that wasn't absolutely necessary to her survival  
“Tooka got your tongue?” the evil Inquisitor hissed, full of contempt for the young woman before her. “Or are you thinking that we’re evil, taking young kids from their ‘families' that aren't really their families cos the Jedi stole them when they were very young, before they could decide for themselves?”  
Again, Trilla held her tongue, the Jedi Order wasn’t like that, was it? She attempted her level best to ignore the way the Force rang with the truth of the Inquisitor's words but they were getting harder and harder to ignore. “The Jedi don't do that” she finally grumbled  
“They don't?” First Sister snarled at the human. “Tell me, did you ever know your parents?” First Sister already knew the answer. No Jedi had ever known their parents, except Skywalker but he'd always been the exception to all the rules, him, and his former Padawan Ahsoka Tano had always gotten away with so much more than anyone else.

Before Trilla could think anymore about her deep rooted jealousy of Ahsoka Tano, First Sister suddenly switched, gone was the comparatively easygoing young woman that she had been, and the sadist from before was back and was about to make Trilla's life miserable once again. “Bring him in” the woman spoke into her wrist comm  
A few moments later a Purge Trooper entered, dragging a young Rodian boy behind him. “Lady Inquisitor” the man nodded and left, leaving one of the Younglings Trilla had been watching over, the Force screaming of the danger that they were both in  
“You have served your Empire well” First Sister spoke calmly to the Trooper, callously gripping the boy’s arm so hard it started to visually bruise. She turned back to Trilla, “And now you will know what happens to those who refuse the Empire's rightful rule”  
“Please... Please don't hurt him. He's innocent in all this. He didn't have anything to do with the torture Vader used on you, Barriss. Of the lies that took away your freedom”  
“My. Name. Is. First. Sister!” The woman hissed.  
“Those are Ventress' 'sabers. Barriss Offee used them to attack Anakin Skywalker at the Temple to save Ahsoka. Remember her?”  
“Those names have no meaning to me” she pulled out a remote control and fiddled with it. The child held in First Sister's vice grip cried out and held his hands to his head, clearly in pain.

“No, stop it!!” Trilla cried. The child continued holding his head and writhing his legs. He had already collapsed onto his side and curled up  
“But there's another twelve levels to use” First Sister complained  
“No, please”  
First Sister fiddled with the controls and the boy yelped again, whimpering. “The first six levels cause increasing levels of pain. The next six cause brain damage. The final, thirteenth, is fatal.”  
“Don't hurt him. I'll do whatever you want” Trilla pleaded in a break from the pain the kid was enduring  
“No, you won't” the Inquisitor stated plainly, coldly. She knew that Trilla's words were an empty promise at that time

*****

It had been several excruciating rotations for Trilla. She and the Rodian boy had been put through various forms of torture, the pain chips in their heads only one of the forms of torture that First Sister employed against them. The boy, the Youngling was already too far gone, much to Trilla’s despair and horror, he had been exposed to the higher levels of the chip, scrambling his brain for good. Conversely, Trilla had only been exposed to the first seven levels of the chip and she felt her calm slipping away at any given moment, First Sister hadn’t bothered to explain exactly what the chips damaged, but the change had been slow at first, she hadn't noticed as her sanity slipped away from her as surely as the death of the Youngling she had been responsible for was.  
“I HATE YOU!!” the human screamed  
“I know” First Sister replied simply. “Let your anger go, let it out, and you can end this pain. Join me and the pain will end  
Trilla remained quiet. Eventually, she nodded. “O-okay” she looked away in defeat  
“Kill him” First Sister demanded immediately, releasing Trilla from the restraints with a simple biometric scan

Trilla stood, took the offered lightsaber from the Inquisitor and stepped forward. The First Sister wasn't stupid, her second lightsaber remained hung on her hip and she knew she could draw it a lot quicker than Trilla could. The former Padawan lifted the saber and called upon the strength of the dark in order to deal with what she was facing, a darkness that was easier to access than ever before. She slashed the saber down across the boy’s throat, severing his head from his shoulders with little more than a gargle from him  
FSSS PSSHHHH. FSSS PSSHHHH. FSSS PSSHHHH. FSSS PSSHHHH. “Good job, First Sister” The mechanical voice of Darth Vader spoke, sending a chill of fear through the newly reborn Inquisitor. “Now” FSSS PSSHHHH, “One final test”

A second child, Another one of the Younglings that Trilla Suduri had watched over were brought before the new Inquisitor. She raised her blade without hesitation. “Not yet” First Sister reprimanded. She was the voice of authority amongst the Inquisitorius. “Come with us”  
The Inquisitor was led into another room, the child gazing down at his feet, knowing his life was coming to an end. “Trilla??” a voice cried. Strung up on the torture rack inside the holding cell was none other than Cere Junda, Trilla Suduri's former Master. The Jedi Master appeared shocked to see her apprentice without any restraints and regretful that she had not been able to protect her apprentice

“Do it” First Sister ordered. It was very gratifying for the young human to see just how Junda recoiled at the words of the Inquisitor, clearly, the First Sister had been responsible for orchestrating her Master’s torture as well as the younger woman's and the new Inquisitor lifted her blade without hesitation, striking down the initiate without pausing, without remorse  
First Sister smiled behind her mask and held out a helmet for the newly reborn Inquisitor, ignoring the smell of charred flesh, of the sight of the unmoving child. “I hereby name you... Second Sister”  
“Trilla... No...” Junda whispered. “No. NO!”

“My name is no longer 'Trilla', it is Second Sister” the Second Sister replied weakly regardless of whether Junda would hear her, her tone was full of hatred even as she felt her consciousness fading once again from the force of the shockwave that had hit her, a dark side attack from her Master. She hadn't believed it to be possible that her Master would use the dark side but she was promptly proven wrong. She felt herself being picked up and carried out of the room by new Purge Troopers and the Second Sister knew no more.

*****

Not so far away, in another cell, a young Mirialan woman was curled up in a corner. They had captured multiple young Padawans in the past week and had taken then all to Nur to be inducted into the Inquisitorius. The young Iomara Offee was curled up from the phantom pains that she had been enduring infrequently but, other than periodic yet random triggering of the pain chip and the empty, silent darkness that surrounded her, she was unharmed. It hadn't always been so silent, she had been forced to listen to Trilla Suduri's screams, knowing that that was what she would eventually face. Unbearable agony. Corruption. The only reason it hadn't already begun was that there were enough new recruits for it to need both First and Second Sister to carry out the torture to get through the recruits in a timely fashion, they would both know full well most wouldn’t make it.

Iomara sent out a silent plea to the Force, asking her dead Sister to watch over her and give her the strength that she needed to survive and stay true to her ideals, for she had been told by the Jedi that her sister, Barriss, had been taken by the Jedi, yet had become one with the Force before she could begin her Jedi training. Little did she know that Barriss was alive and well, and that the knowledge would be the weapon the newly reborn Second Sister would use to turn the devout Jedi into the very thing she had sworn to destroy, into the person who would eventually become the Seventh Sister

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming soon:  
> A snapshot of 19BBY from Luminara's perspective.  
> Second companion multi-chapter fic called 'Lost Days'.
> 
> I'd love to hear what people think of these snapshots so far!! Comments also serve to motivate me as well so more comments = more chapters!:) More chapters also means that Lost Days will be released sooner as well!


	4. 19BBY

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Operation Knightfall, from Luminara Unduli's point of view

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's that snapshot I promised!

On the eve of Operation Knightfall, A lot of formerly promising Jedi fell. A lot of promising Jedi never had the chance to become one with the Force as they railed against their own inevitable demise by abandoning their morals in a desperate attempt to save themselves, or their friends. For those that survived the ordeal of their troopers turning against them _and_ managed to escape for long enough to go into exile, they had the additional burden of learning to live with what levels they had stooped to survive.

Despair. That was all the woman felt and had felt for many, many months. She felt despair at what had become of her Padawan. Despair at what had happened to Ahsoka Tano, her Padawan’s best friend. Despair at the state of her own life, she hadn't been allowed to take another Padawan or even set foot in the crèches or the classrooms since the disaster that had been the end of her Padawan’s journey as a Jedi and to add insult to injury, she had been stripped of her status as a Master, stripped of everything that mattered to her for the choices made by another. Despair at the stabbing, aching pains as each of the Jedi she knew, and thousands that she didn't, were cut down or lost to the dark in a desperate attempt to save themselves before they were struck down by blaster, vibroblade or lightsaber. Plo Koon, Cin Drallig, Aayla Secura, Mace Windu, all suffered injuries and were soon after plunged into the currents of the Force. Other, less disciplined Jedi fell into the darkness of rage, hatred and suffering momentarily before their light was snuffed out permanently

Luminara Unduli kneeled behind a knot of one of the gigantic trees on the forest planet of Kashyyyk, home to the Wookiees and waited, to die, or, though the odds were stacked against her, for a rescue that she already knew would never come. She had already felt the beacon of light that was Yoda flee, without a care for where she might be or if she might still be alive. _Looks like you’re on your own, Lumi_. She had thought to herself, using Obi-Wan Kenobi's childhood nickname for her, an attempt to self-soothe. _This must be how Ahsoka felt after she was accused of sedition, how Barriss probably felt after I basically disowned her in front of the Troopers_. What was worse was the pain of thousands of deaths hammering against her mind. There was one point of hope amongst all of the suffering, and that was that the girl who had been her daughter in everything but blood was no longer involved in any of what was going on. She was most likely in some maximum security jail somewhere, safe from the betrayal that had come from somewhere within the Republic.

_Who could have possibly ordered this?!_ She begged of the Force. Answers that didn't seem to want to come hovered just beyond her awareness, almost mocking her for her failures.

With a yelp, Knight Luminara Unduli fell to the floor, she had been so wrapped up in her own anguish that she wasn’t paying attention. The clones had become hard enough to sense when one was paying proper attention to the swirling and mystical energy field, but for one that was distracted, the fact that the clones had become a suppressed, dull glow compared to what they used to be allowed them to kill their enemies with impunity, even the most Force-sensitive and experienced of Jedi

*****

“Why did you do it, _Barriss_!?” An ever so slightly younger Luminara, but one that looked _years_ younger, shrieked at the woman who had once been her Padawan, she couldn't admit it to herself but she was _angry_. They were stood in a corridor in a Venator-Class Star Destroyer that was hanging in space where the plains next to the city in which the funeral procession of a Hero of the Republic had passed through merely an hour before was easily visible. Her former Padawan had hidden in an alcove, somehow concealing her presence even without her seemingly absent Force signature but she hadn't counted on Luminara's keen intellect and excessive, bordering on obsessive attention to detail.  
“Did you not hear my recording that Skywalker played in the courtroom, _Master_?” Barriss spat, anger having settled into her heart  
“You are no longer my Padawan, _Offee_!” The Mirialan had hissed, despite herself, she couldn't help but go back to see her fallen Padawan, even after declaring that she didn't want to ever see her again. Maybe it was an attachment, or maybe it was an unwillingness to give up on someone as young as Barriss, she didn't know. “My Padawan, Barriss, would never have been able to do what you did. She wouldn't have fallen to the dark side!!”  
Barriss scoffed, “Fallen to the dark side? If I've fallen then the rest of the Jedi Order have done so too... If I were you I'd watch out for those golden eyes...”  
Luminara shrieked her frustration out, slapping Barriss across the cheek who staggered back, surprise crossing her otherwise dead sapphire blue eyes for but a moment. “Snap out of it, Barriss!!” she cried. “Please... Snap out of it!!” Luminara fought to keep the tears in, realizing that she was begging seconds later yet wasn't able to bring herself to care  
“I am sane” the young Jedi Padawan whispered before everything faded to black. A Clone Trooper of the Forty-First had stunned the younger Mirialan from behind.

“Take her away. I don't want to see her again” The worst thing was that she had fully meant it at the time, unaware of what was to come at the hands of the men she had commanded for years. She hadn't intended on ever seeing her former Padawan again and had only been compelled to do so by the fact that she had been beaten almost to death. Had Rex not called Joiner away for long enough for another Trooper to see into the room, Barriss would have died  
“Yes, Lieutenant General” the Trooper replied, saluting. Since Luminara had lost her Master status they also no longer trusted her with the position of full General hence the new rank, Lieutenant General, that was created specifically for her

*****

“Barriss... _Barriss_ , no...” Luminara pleaded, she was strapped to a machine in some nameless room, surrounded by machinery that even _looked_ sinister and how they felt in the Force was so much worse, all that pain and despair those machines had been used to inflict... Stood to her left-hand side was an individual in hulking great armor.  
“That name, that traitor’s name, means nothing to me and I would suggest you stop using it, before I lose what's left of my patience” the woman's vocordered voice slithered out of her helmet, distorted beyond any chance of recognition  
“But, _why_?” Luminara pleaded with the figure. Why had she turned, why was she torturing her? She was fearful that the creature beneath the full body armor was what remained of Barriss Offee  
“I'm not Barriss Offee. My name is First Sister. It has always been First Sister, and it will always be First Sister. That is the only name I need”

With that, the figure in the armor raised her hand and pain, agonizing pain tore through Luminara Unduli, light flickering between the figure's hand and Luminara’s body that was beyond her field of vision, her head strapped down. “You _will_ pay for what happened” the being hissed, focusing her all-encompassing rage onto the unfortunate Mirialan. There was nothing left for the older Mirialan but the pain she was being forced to endure at the hands of the woman who wanted to hide her identity from her. Pain that seemed to be dwarfed by the armored woman’s if the Force lightning she was conjuring was anything to go by

*****

Luminara gasped as she regained consciousness, the pain from the vision lingering. She had not felt her former Padawan in the Force since the day Ahsoka had died and she had finally worked out what had occurred. By some twist of fate, or perhaps the will of the Force, the young adult had been cut off from the Force and her eyes had remained a blue color no matter how fast she had fallen. That, the fate of her former Padawan couldn't be her priority though, she knew she had other things to worry about, like the masses of murderous clones that had attacked her and which she had been forced to cut down in order to survive. Like having fought for long enough for plans to change, Knight Unduli found herself being faced with a new ruling from... someone. She was to be captured, alive and subjected to some kind of process to freeze her body and trap her Force Essence for reasons unknown. An unknown amount of time had passed but from what she could feel, she was on a ship in hyperspace. Having served under Jedi Grandmaster and High General Yoda for the past nine months and having been associated with the Forty-First Elite Corps for just under three years, she had come to recognize the unique feel of the Tranquility’s hyperdrive.  
 _Where in the Force are they taking me? Either way, it can't be good news..._ The Mirialan Knight thought, trying to wrestle her fear down and back under her control. She had no idea that she'd been unconscious for quite a while, a week, perhaps more

Her thoughts were disturbed by a door opening and a ray shield disengaging just out of sight. Even though she was chained down, in a particularly uncomfortable position, they still kept her behind not only multiple doors but multiple ray shields as well.  
“Did you hear?” One trooper spoke from out of sight outside the inner ray shield that kept her cell secure, a voice she vaguely recognized but didn't sound overly familiar. Someone in her Legion, but not one she'd spoken to directly  
“That Tiplee, her Anzati Padawan and those Younglings took down two ships of Vod'e? Yes.” A second Trooper replied, a faint taint of rage entering his voice  
“I envy the Vod that finally had the chance to murder that traitorous Mikkian” a third voice added and Luminara's rage peaked. It was _Draa_. Draa was one of the Troopers that had, along with Buzz and Joiner, beaten Barriss senseless, almost to the verge of death months back. “The best of the best were serving under her after all, the Five-Oh-First would have won against her, eventually.” The Mirialan felt a spike of pain, she was barely able to process the implication, that yet another one of her peers had died. She searched for Tiplee in the Force yet couldn't find her presence, confirming that she had been slaughtered in the chaos that didn't even have any rhyme or reason  
“I heard she died in the Venator even though we haven't yet found the ship, same as all those Younglings. Total obliteration like that would've killed anyone on board and we know that Order Sixty-Six includes the destruction of any way for a Jedi to escape” the first Trooper spoke again, sighing as he sat down on something  
“Shame... I would have liked to see the life drain out of her eyes.” Draa complained. His brutality was hitherto unmatched. “I don't understand why some Troopers, like CC-2224, ate their own blasters after the execution of Order Sixty-Six” there were murmurs of vague, quiet agreement at those words. _We did our duty_  
“I heard someone saved them all.” And the focus of the conversation was brought back to the subject of Tiplee and Fomlu by Buzz, another Trooper that Luminara _didn't_ loathe, she didn't _loathe_ him at all as that wasn't the way of the Jedi. “The loss of the cruisers is just a lead” the Trooper grumbled, joining Draa in his griping and serving to incense the Jedi even more. She knew that Tiplee had died! Why didn't the Troopers show even a modicum of respect?!  
“Poodoo. Not even a Jedi could survive such a cataclysmic event” the nameless first Trooper argued. “What of Maul?”  
“No idea,” Draa mumbled. “We won't know til we find the ship, though since he most likely escaped he probably was the one that slaughtered them all”  
“Good on him. It's sad really, the Emperor would benefit from his assistance. Lord Vader is all well and good, but that life-support armor must be a pain. Also, the First Sister is a little too inexperienced in matters of command for my taste. She was probably a Padawan”  
 _First Sister?_ Luminara turned the name over in her head for a few seconds then suddenly felt sick. She recognized the name from her dream or vision. Barriss Offee, it had to be Barriss Offee  
“I heard a rumor that the First Sister is a Mirialan. Cody swears he saw green skin” Draa spoke again  
 _Where is Gree?_ Luminara asked herself quietly, trying her hardest to block out Drama’s words. She still couldn't feel Barriss’ presence in the Force but their bond had likely suffered from nine months of disuse and had therefore decayed before almost certainly having been severed by Barriss, or her new Master, _Lord Vader_ , Luminara presumed  
“Not on your life. First doesn't remove that Phrik armor. I bet she even sleeps in it” Luminara was starting to get a headache and therefore the voices of her former troops all blended into one indistinguishable drone  
“She serves directly under Vader instead of under the Grand Inquisitor. I heard she slaughtered fifteen Younglings and Padawans while Vader dealt with several Masters”  
“What the kriff happened to Vader anyhow?” the first Trooper asked. “Doubt he willingly went into that suit”  
“Thire says he was burned alive the night the Temple fell”

Luminara frowned, she might not have been able to tell the clones apart but she was still listening closely. That sounded like an awful fate, even for one who was a Sith. The elder Mirialan knew then, with no uncertainty, that she would have to escape somehow else she knew her fate would be one that was worse than death, the Sith had indeed returned. Surprisingly, she was able to use the Force to see what was going on around her, it wasn't being impaired at all. She felt familiar presences, like Draa, Buzz and Joiner who had presumably been released from the solitary confinement he'd been sentenced to due to beating a prisoner. Oddly enough Gree wasn't on board the Venator at all, explaining why she hadn't heard his voice. Those presences especially made her blood boil. She recalled catching sight of her Padawan unconscious in the med bay after those clones had finished with her and she had been hard-pressed to keep herself under control at that time, even with the galaxy being as light as it had been. Since then, the last of the light had been extinguished and therefore her thoughts turned down a darker path and she was having to work a thousand times harder to maintain even a semblance of the legendary Master Unduli calm, knowing that she was one of the very last remaining Jedi _hurt_

“The prisoner is to be remanded into custody to await the First Sister. She is eager to try her hand at breaking a Jedi Master” a new same but different voice came, “especially her in particular”  
“Oooh, I kinda feel sorry for that Jedi now, even if she was a Jedi”  
 _Uh oh, not good, not good_. Luminara tried to move her wrists but only managed to do so a bit, whoever had tied her down had done a really good job  
“Is she to be tortured into the dark?” Draa asked  
“No. The Emperor has something special planned for her” came the reply, in the new voice  
“Good. I'm sick of being on this damn prison ship. Glad the Emperor didn't just send us out here to get Unduli out of the way. Three months. We haven't seen a planet in three months”  
 _Oh, kriff_. Luminara forgot all her lessons on etiquette, just for a moment. It had been three months since she had been captured, a year since Barriss’ fall. Luminara started to struggle even more but also started looking around to see what she could use. The room was bare save the IV stand with an empty bag on it. _Maybe I could..._ She became focused on her goal to such a degree that she hadn't noticed the Troopers reducing their numbers to just two lone guards, their impromptu social gathering over and making escape just that little bit easier

Using the Force, Luminara lifted the IV stand and managed to break it, making it into something sharp. She then telekinetically shoved it through the restraints with a pained yelp and she was free, regardless of the greeny-blue blood running down her wrist. “Ouch, that fekking hurt”  
“Did you hear something?” Buzz asked having heard her yelp  
“No, that was nothing. Come on, it's your hand” Draa replied, completely at ease with taking a woman to her death, one he had served with before. He was calmly playing a card game and ignoring a yelp of pain from his prisoner  
 _Heh. That's the last mistake you'll ever make, Draa..._ the surprise she felt by the dark turn her thoughts had taken was quickly buried by the memory of the pitiful sounds that Barriss had made in the few moments she was conscious after she had been beaten by the clones, including Draa. Luminara hadn't been able to do anything about it at the time as she knew the clones would have stuck together and covered for each other, but...

Luminara Unduli flicked her wrist, catapulting the door to her cell up into the ceiling and crushing the ray shield projectors. She leaped out of the cell, her hands raised. The Troopers were unarmed, their blasters leaned up against a wall. Good. Another flick of her wrist had the sharp shard of metal embedded in the chest of the _second_ clone with it having punched a hole straight through the nearest one. Two clatters later and both the clones were slumped over themselves with vacantly shocked expressions on their faces. “Nice knowing you, Draa” the Master scowled, not looking back at neither Buzz nor Draa. Realizing that she was on a slippery slope, she quickly made her way to the nearest air duct and opened it by hand, slipping inside and crawling through slowly, banging her head occasionally. She eventually found a nice wide up shaft in which she could sit properly and center herself, the former Jedi Master hadn't realized that the slip to the dark could begin so easily until she was confronted with that very situation. Suddenly she felt exceedingly remorseful over how she had ended her relationship with Barriss Offee, judgmentally, with disgust. Barriss was likely to suffer for how she'd reacted even though she'd left her former Padawan under the care of certain _less violent_ Troopers.

Suddenly horrified, Luminara jerked forward and banged her head, she'd left Barriss to be taken off to a Republic Holding Facility and had left her to face her fate there, alone. “What have I done???” Whatever was happening, no matter why the Clone Troopers were doing what they were doing, Barriss would also be facing it. Order Sixty-Six.

Luminara had to find Barriss, and get her out of wherever she was torturing Jedi but it had to be done on her terms. To be taken there before she was ready would be a death sentence

*****

Luminara eventually emerged from the ducts she'd hidden in, her previous rage quelled enough to maintain a level head, enough to prevent her from teetering over the edge like Barriss had, but no more merciful to the clones that had beaten Barriss and captured her, in her mind they stood between her and freedom and whatever she did would therefore be _necessary self-defense_ , and not be steps toward the dark side. She pummeled a number of clones with her bare hands and with the Force, breaking their bones and killing them with little to no hesitation, making sure she killed Joiner along the way.

“I need to get off this ship” Luminara voiced the itch that had been bugging her since she’d woken up, her hand wrapped around a piece of piping she'd broken off with the Force to use as a makeshift weapon, one she'd just used to bash in a clone's skull, one that had at one time been called Joiner, CT-9761. “But how?” She knew she couldn't fight her way through thousands of Troopers, no matter how powerful she was, at least not without falling to the dark side. “I could probably use the ducts to get out of here, but then these scumbags don't get punished”

_No, what am I thinking? Jedi don't succumb to revenge._

“The ducts are probably my best bet”

Her decision made, Luminara headed toward the ducts. No matter how long it would take, she knew she had to get out of there, she could not succumb to tiredness, nor to the urge to attack more of the clones or to 'Do a Skywalker’ as Barriss had once described a more reckless plan that Luminara had suggested to lighten the mood before Barriss had joined the Battle of Umbara, nor to the urge to get out and stretch her legs, relieve herself or get herself a glass of water. She didn't know how long she had to escape before the clones noticed she wasn't in her cell, the ones she’d come across hadn't lived long enough to call for help. “Oh, stang. I didn't even hide those I killed in my cell or a closet” Once again she forgot etiquette, yet to her it was acceptable, at least under the circumstances

Luminara could have hit herself, however, she continued navigating the ducts instead, only to increase her speed and urgency when the alarm was inevitably sounded due to her escape attempt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still to come:  
> A Snapshot from First Sister's point of view  
> A snapshot of the Battle of Endor from Ackbar's point of view (this will probably come at some point in the future)  
> The prologue of Lost Days

**Author's Note:**

> Am unsure as to whether these scenes will be elaborated on in the main story or if it'll only be depicted here. Or if I'll get further inspiration for additional scenes


End file.
